STUDIES ON ISOLATION, PURIFICATION AND STRUCTURE OF POLYSACCHARIDE RHG FROM HEDYSARUM POLYBOTRYS HAND.MAZZ

A water-soluble polysaccharide, RHG, was isolated from the roots of Hedysarum polybotrys Hand.-Mazz. It was shown to be homogeneous by electrophoresis and gel filtration. Its average molecular weight was estimated to be 1.4×10⁴. Methylation analysis, periodate oxidation, Smith degradation, IR, NMR and KI-I₂ reaction showed that RHG is a (1～4) linked α-D-glucan to which the glucosyl side chains are attached at O-6 of the glucosyl residues of the main chain.